My last day at Wellstone

Today I finished the 100 hours of classroom time required to get into my teacher licensure program. Wellstone International, a high school for immigrant students, was a fantastic school at which to volunteer. I am going to miss seeing those kids each week.

While at Wellstone I got in good with the teachers, and now they are starting to give me substitute teaching assignments. I'll do my second assignment next week. And I get paid!

ONE GOOD DEED: Volunteer at Wellstone International.

Volunteer teaching at Anwatin, last day

I volunteered at Anwatin Middle School for the fourth and last time today. Each day was a new shocker--I really had never seen such hellions. But at least they were consistent.

On the other hand, the few advanced students I worked with in the Japanese class were outstanding. They wanted to learn, and brought enthusiasm and humor to the table. They even made me a goodbye card, which I was not expecting at all. I never thought I'd miss Anwatin, but I'm going to miss those Japanese students at least.

ONE GOOD DEED: Volunteer at Anwatin Middle School.

House of Charity with R

My girlfriend R and I both had today off from work, so we decided to volunteer at House of Charity. We served lunch to over two hundred folks fallen on hard times.

ONE GOOD DEED: Volunteer at House of Charity.

Anwatin Friday

Another day volunteering at Anwatin. And another day when the students were complete trouble-makers. Oh well. You're dreaming if you expect students to behave like angels.

ONE GOOD DEED: Volunteer at Anwatin Middle School.

Volunteering at Anwatin Middle School

I've started doing a second volunteer teaching experience, this time at Anwatin Middle School in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood. Anwatin, I must say, has some of the most unruly classes I have ever seen. It's almost enough to make me think twice about becoming a teacher. Nevertheless, I stuck it out and did some good teaching today.

ONE GOOD DEED: Volunteer teach at Anwatin Middle School.

And again. Today there was a man with a severe disability that caused him to flail his limbs wildly. It was heartbreaking to see someone like that with no one to take care of him.

ONE GOOD DEED: Volunteer at a food center for the homeless and chemically dependent.

Serving food at the House of Charity

There's something called the House of Charity on the street between my apartment and the lightrail station. This week I finally stopped in to find out what it was. It's both a home for homeless and chemically dependent people, and a food center for the public. Today and tomorrow are MEA days, which means no school, so I had nothing to do-- a perfect time to volunteer.

The other volunteers today were doing community service for minor offenses. I talked to a number of folks and heard their hard-times stories of mistakes they made in the past. I particularly enjoyed listening to W, who served time as an accomplice to murder, and now volunteers as a way to give back to the community.

ONE GOOD DEED: Volunteer at a food center for the homeless and chemically dependent.

An audio essay for the Tribeways podcast

A burst of creatively flowed out of my tonight. I recorded an audio essay about the relative un-importance of belief in ADF religion, and sent it off to Tribeways, the ADF podcast. This is something I do fairly frequently, on an entirely volunteer basis since there is no compensation (although I do enjoy hearing myself speak, which is reward enough!).

ONE GOOD DEED: Volunteer an audio essay to the Tribeways podcast.

Volunteering at Wellstone International High School

Today I got set up to start volunteering at a high school called Wellstone International. It's 100% ESL students, which means they are mostly immigrants still learning English. I will be volunteering three days a week, helping out however I can in actual classes. I need the classroom experience to fill a prerequisite for the teacher licensure program I'll start next June. I'm also excited to be working at such an interesting school. It's 60% Latin American, 30% East African, and 10% Southeast Asian. ESL is what I want to teach as a career, so I'm pumped to witness ESL teaching in action.

ONE GOOD DEED: Become a volunteer at Wellstone International High School.

Volunteering at HEC Camp

From today till the 29th I will be volunteering at an English summer camp for junior high and senior high school students. HEC (Hokkaido English Challenge) is one of the best things I have done as a teacher here in Hokkaido, and I am happy that I can finish my time here with one final camp.

SIX DAYS OF GOOD DEEDS: Volunteer at an English camp.

Taking care of solitaries

I belong to a religious organization called ADF, and about half the members are what's called "solitaries." That is, they practice their religion alone rather than with a group, for whatever reason. Somebody needs to attend to the needs of all those solitaries, and I've been that person for the last year or so. It's all volunteer work. Today I helped a person looking for resources to create a liturgy to celebrate the coming spring equinox.

ONE GOOD DEED: Help a person in need of resources for their spiritual path.

An HEC judge

Hokkaido English Challenge (HEC) is an annual contest for junior high and senior high students in Hokkaido. It's put on by an association of foreign teachers, completely independent from schools, as a way to promote further English fun and learning. It's definitely the best thing I do as a teacher in Hokkaido.

ONE GOOD DEED: Volunteer to be a judge in an English contest for Japanese students.